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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Summertime Dance Story

Happy Summer!

Here is a fun dance story based on the action-packed book The Sun Is My Favorite Star, by Frank Asch. This activity is adapted from my bookOne, Two, What Can I Do? Dance and Music for the Whole Day (Redleaf Press, 2011), from the chapter entitled Dance and Music Presentation Jump Starts.The musical selections suggested below are from the two CD's of music by Debbie Clement, which are included with the book.Get ready for the activity:

This activity
works best in a large, level, unobstructed space, indoors or outside.

Materials:

1. The book The Sun Is My Favorite Star,by Frank Asch

2. “Shine and Brighten” instrumental, and the song “Sun Screen” by Debbie Clement

3. Streamers made from shiny, sparkly, or rainbow-colored fabric (cut into strips about 12 inches long and 3 inches wide).

Rainbow Streamers!

The Activity:

Read The Sun Is
My Favorite Star to the children, then ask the children to spread evenly throughout the space to begin the dance story. Tell them, Now let's dance the story! Play the music “Shine and
Brighten” instrumental softly, as background for the dance. Allow each section of the story dance to develop as the
children choose how they would like to react to the story, music, movement
prompts, and props, and as they contribute their own movement ideas.

Say to the children:

Let’s all
lie down and close our eyes, so that we can begin our dance by waking up, like
the child in the book. Wake up, it’s morning, the sunlight is coming in the
window! Time to get dressed and have breakfast.

Now it’s
time to go out and play. On a beautiful, sunny day, what do you like to do
outside? Play on the playground? Play ball and other games with your friends?
Imagine you are swinging from a tire in a tree, like the picture in the book,
and then pull the little red wagon. Who is riding in your wagon?

Run in and
out of the trees as the sun follows you. Now imagine you are the sun, and play
hide and seek in the clouds. Shine your bright rays on the earth.

It’s
raining! Feel the rain on your face. Swirl and fall like the raindrops.

Imagine a
beautiful rainbow. Try to reach it! Can you jump up and touch it? Run under it,
around it, run from one end of it to the other, and jump over it! What if you
could climb up one side and slide down the other?

Imagine you
have a crayon, and draw the beautiful sunset. Try to fill the whole space,
reaching high and low, and draw your picture in the air.

Now dance freely about all the fun ideas in this story
and anything else about the sun that makes you want to dance! (Play “Sun
Screen” and pass out the sparkly streamers.)

Finish the dance in the shape of the sun or in the shape of a rainbow.